LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 388: Chapter 310: Buddha’s Kingdom in the Palm!
Chapter 310: Buddha's Kingdom in the Palm!
The Technique List continued to reveal its rankings, but as many had predicted, the names announced were all long-established powerhouses in their realms.
Many Quasi-Saints and Supreme Golden Immortals dominated the rankings further down. Saints, however, had yet to make significant appearances, as their divine abilities could not possibly be ranked so low.
This realization crushed any lingering hopes for many individuals to make it onto the list. If they couldn't secure a position lower down, then there was no chance for higher rankings.
For instance, someone like Sun Wukong had already abandoned any expectation of making it. He had begun preparing for the next list, as this one had nothing to do with him. His hope of leveraging the rankings to boost his strength was entirely dashed.
Conversely, the strength of Buddha Tathagata seemed to grow consistently. If Tathagata's power increased even further, it would eliminate any chance of Sun Wukong escaping.
Adding to his difficulties, Tathagata paid close attention to Sun Wukong's imprisonment. Any unusual activity around the Five Elements Mountain would prompt Tathagata to investigate personally, leaving Sun Wukong with no opportunity to escape.
This wasn't just excessive caution on Tathagata's part—Sun Wukong truly possessed the strength to escape. While the Five Elements Mountain was powerful, it wasn't without its flaws.
The seal on top was specifically designed to be undone by the reincarnated monk Golden Cicada. If others found a way to break it, Sun Wukong would be uncontrollable.
Thus, no one but a few mortal families—carefully vetted by Tathagata as being utterly ordinary and devoid of spiritual power—was allowed near the mountain. Only such arrangements could fully put Tathagata's mind at ease, ensuring that Sun Wukong followed his plans without constant surveillance.
When the rankings reached the fiftieth position, the first Saint finally appeared: the Western Saint, Jieyin.
[Technique List Ranking No.50: Buddha's Kingdom in the Palm
User: Jieyin]
The "Buddha's Kingdom in the Palm" is a rare spatial divine ability. Tathagata's Five Elements Mountain is essentially a miniature version of this technique.
Using this divine ability, Tathagata's five fingers could form a boundless space where even someone as powerful as Sun Wukong could fly for three days and nights without finding an end. The sheer power of this ability could suppress everything under heaven, creating mountains and confining all.
Even Sun Wukong, with all his might, couldn't escape its grasp. This demonstrated its incredible might.
And Tathagata, only a Quasi-Saint, had already displayed such mastery. Jieyin, a Saint, possessed far greater strength. When wielded by Jieyin, the "Buddha's Kingdom in the Palm" would be immeasurably more powerful.
It was said that a single palm could become a world, housing an entire Buddha Kingdom while channeling its full power to amplify Jieyin's own combat abilities. This spell was as versatile as it was fearsome, capable of suppression and support without any apparent weaknesses.
[Sun Wukong: What kind of divine ability is this "Buddha's Kingdom in the Palm"?]
[Guanyin Bodhisattva: This is merely one of the divine abilities wielded by Saint Jieyin, not his strongest. A single palm is akin to an entire Buddha Kingdom, possessing immense power to suppress all beings and channel all its energy into enhancing one's combat strength.]
[Sun Wukong: A Buddha Kingdom in the palm… Doesn't that mean his palm can hold the entire Western Paradise?]
[Tathagata: You cannot comprehend the power of Saints. While the Western Paradise is vast, if a Saint so desires, such feats are trivial and effortless for them.]
Sun Wukong's lack of understanding about Saints was understandable. After all, the strongest person he had encountered so far was Tathagata. His interactions with other powerhouses were limited.
There was only one exception: Laozi. However, Laozi had never met Sun Wukong in person, opting instead to toss him into the Eight Trigrams Furnace without revealing his true strength.
At that time, Sun Wukong had been captured by the Heavenly Palace and was unaware of how terrifying Laozi truly was. Had he known, he might have thought twice before causing chaos in Laozi's palace.
If Laozi had been angered by Sun Wukong stealing the celestial elixirs, the latter's fate would have been far worse. At best, he might have received a minor punishment; at worst, Laozi could have killed him outright.
Fortunately, Laozi showed no anger, letting Sun Wukong off lightly. In this sense, Sun Wukong was indeed lucky.
[Manjushri Bodhisattva: Buddha Tathagata is the strongest in Buddhism aside from Saints Jieyin and Zhunti. Even his divine abilities are ranked so low. For Jieyin's divine ability to be ranked at only fiftieth, one can only imagine how intense the competition for higher rankings will be!]
This list differed from the previous ones. In the earlier rankings, abundant rewards were distributed, including numerous divine abilities and spells of immense power. Some of these surpassed the original abilities of the recipients.
However, the rules for this list introduced an implicit condition: divine abilities obtained as rewards from the Golden List were excluded from the rankings. No matter how powerful, they were treated as rewards and thus disqualified from being ranked.
This rule frustrated some powerhouses. Without this restriction, they could have secured higher rankings. But with it, some lost their eligibility altogether.
Despite these grievances, the rewards announced up to the fiftieth position had already astounded everyone. Many had never encountered such powerful spells or divine abilities in their lifetimes, let alone seen those wielded by Quasi-Saints or Saints.
The overwhelming power and intricacy of these divine abilities left most speechless. Without witnessing or experiencing them firsthand, they could hardly comprehend their magnificence.
Whenever a new ability appeared, countless questions arose about its nature and function. But for most people, their limited knowledge made it impossible to grasp these abilities without explanations from others.
The Golden List provided only a brief overview. Without direct observation or experimentation, determining the true strength of these abilities remained challenging. Ultimately, whether they learned what they wished to know depended on whether stronger individuals were willing—and able—to explain.